Saturday, 9 June 2007

Swimming and Takeaways

I have been feeling pretty despondent physically since I got here. I used to walk several miles a day in the UK but it's too hot to walk very far here especially at the speeds I am used to walking. Something had to be done so I have joined the gym and pool at a local hotel.

I think this is probably going to be very important to me over the next few years and I am sure that everyone who works there is going to become my best friend Most of the staff are from the Philippines ... although I did meet an outgoing Romanian girl the other night. There are massage rooms too and the masseurs may be Thai but my basic membership fee doesn’t cover that end of the corridor so I can only sigh longingly as the smell of Lemongrass Oil hits my nostrils when I get out of the lift. Have been a couple of times to use the pool and its hard work especially if there are hotel guests getting in the way! However, according to my new best friends the hotel is usually empty in the summer, which is good news because it means that I should have the pool to myself.

It feels strange to be a member of something... the only time I have been a member of anything was a DVD rental club.

Got home after joining and found a pile of takeaway curry/chinese/pizza menus outside my door... just like home! This area really is like East London, only hotter.... and cheaper. Most of my neighbours there were also Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi and the curry menus are almost identical even down to the restaurant names. The only discernible difference is that a lot more of the Indians here seem to be from Kerala specifically which I find rather interesting.